30 years ago

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Deltics........Hmmm, noisy, smelly, ugly great brutish things, never liked them that much, But boy could they fly, my driver let me take one out of Peterborough early one Sunday morning on one very late running overnight sleeper, which are limited to 90mph, as the last coach left the platform, I open the controller and let her fly, got her up to 105mph with 15 sleepers on,

And yes I've unfortunately had to go into the engine room of a Deltic at full bore, Yuck, A what, I heard that.....I think !!

A very nasty place to put a urinal in the nose of a Deltic, nobody ever used them unless they were busting ! as the wind and suction intake......'Took' it in mid stream ?? the stainless urinal, very rarely got wet, but you could !!

Give me a 47 any day......... please

manna

[Mickey]

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[JeffB]

Hi Micky, when I was on the sleepers we were timed at 60 mph. It seemed very slow. Going down with the Scotsman to Newcastle at 90, (100 mph) up Stoke, and coming back with the Tynesider or something at 60 always seemed a bit of a let down. The trains you mentioned through WGC I think would be the Aberdonian, which used to arrive at KX about 7:00am and the Anglo Scottish Car Carrier, which would usually go into the yard at Hollaway South Up cattle dock.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

I was told it was 90mph so the people didn't get rocked out of bed, although I could be wrong that particular day we had come round via Lincoln, didn't leave Peterborough till about half eight, so everybody was up, well they would have been after going through Holme and Connington at 105mph !!!

manna

[Mickey]

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[JeffB]

Hi Micky, when I was second maning, we had one sleeper train that arrived in the Cross at about 04:00 in the morning, we would relieve the crew on it and sit behind the train till about 08:00. Always a 2000, platform 8, I have a vague memory of it originating at Newcastle. I dont know who got the most sleep, them in the train or us. It was a finishing up job so we got 12 hours in, but by hell, it made it a long week.

[Mickey]

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[JeffB]

Hi Micky, In the 60s there was an hours gap between the mail trains. The first was due in the Cross at 02:53. That was the train with the GPO pick up stuff on, and the second was due at 03:53, and as you say, straight into platforms 1 and 2. And just behind the second one was the first up sleeper.

We also got diverted on the first mail once, where you did at Black Carr Junction, and went on to Lincoln, Sleaford, Spalding, March and Cambridge and rejoined the main line at Hitchin. If I remember correctly we were over an hour late in KX. It was in the winter, black as the ace of spades, no idea where we was till we got to Ely.

Also got diverted the other way one weekend, from Hitchin to Doncaster, there was a lot of pw work on the main line I think, getting Stoke Bank ready for 100mph running

[StevieG]

I'm a long way from being able to swear these would be correct, but do the headcodes 1A40 and 1A41 ring any bells as being those of these two trains?

[hq1hitchin]

I'm a long way from being able to swear these would be correct, but do the headcodes 1A40 and 1A41 ring any bells as being those of these two trains?

Correct - 1A40 was the 2020hrs from Newcastle, 1A41 was a Leeds service, can't remember what time it left there but was due KX 0324hrs in my time. A group of us used 1A40 one night to return from the annual Eastern Region controller's dinner, which that year was held in the Co-op Emporium in Donny. A special stop (with a stop order) was made at Huntingdon to drop off our chums from Cambridge. Happy days

[Andy W]

In my time at the Cross (mid to late 1970s on) 1A40 was the 2030 ex NCLE, timed to come into the Cross just before 3.00 a.m. and was preceded by 1A40 which was the 2120 ex Bradford, off Leeds at 2200, arriving KX at about 2.00 a.m.

On Sunday and Monday mornings it was a combined train which was 1A40 for the Sunday arrival and, just to be different, 1A41 for the Monday arrival. On Sundays it was the last LHCS arrival at KX for a time, until the empty vans off the Hitchin mails used to turn up just before 6.00 a.m. on their way out to Ferme Park. Time for the C&W to get some kip!

[Mickey]

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[StevieG]

" .... We went down road with the 1:am Newcastle out of Kings Cross (Brush type-4 on the front) on the Saturday morning arriving at Newcastle around 6:20am .... "

....1N00(?). Well, I'm sure it was during the week in the early '80s anyway;
Followed from 'The Cross' by 1L00 at 01.10 or 01.15(?), via Leeds, to....? (York?).

[Mickey]

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[Andy W]

Yes, Steve, by the late 1970's 1N00 was followed (SX) by 1L00, the 0110 Leeds, 1B05, the 0200 P'Boro, 1B06, the 0355 Hitchin and 1L01, the 0405 Leeds, which was a really slow train. That was it on the down road for LHCS until 1S12 - the 0550 Aberdeen and a favourite for taking locos to Plant. You used to swap the traction at P'Boro or Donny with that one, depending on what was about.